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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 636 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 20 October 2021 by Mr R.S. Love

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

MANDURAH RAIL LINE — CLOSURE — SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

636. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Transport:

I refer to the planned closure of the Mandurah rail line during the upcoming holiday period and concerns voiced by the Lord Mayor regarding the impact on the CBD.

(1) Does the minister concede that alternative transport arrangements will impact negatively on the 60 000 passengers who rely on this line each day?

(2) Has the minister tasked Transperth with modelling changes to transit times for these interrupted services?

(3) Will the minister give a firm guarantee that works will be completed within the scheduled time frame?

Several members interjected.

The SPEAKER: It would appear that a lot of other people think that they can answer this question. I would just like the Minister for Transport to answer.

Ms R. SAFFIOTI replied:

(1)–(3) I was somewhat surprised by those comments. In relation to the disruption caused by building rail lines, that is what happens when rail lines are built! As I have outlined before, when the previous Liberal–National government was in power, it did not cause disruption to the rail lines because it did not build any. Members may ask: what disruption did the former government cause when it built the Ellenbrook rail line? Nothing. What disruption occurred when it built Metro Area Express light rail? Nothing, because it kept breaking commitments. Of course, the closure of a rail line to make a significant change around Cockburn station is something that is required to build the Thornlie–Cockburn Link. Do the members for Southern River and Jandakot want us to build that Thornlie–Cockburn Link? What do the people of Canning Vale want? They want the Thornlie–Cockburn Link of course. As a result, there will be a closure of that rail line.

Transperth has been working to develop the plans for the replacement bus services. It undertook a community survey and thousands of people were interviewed and we have discussed alternative arrangements. We have identified the key employment centres, like Fiona Stanley Hospital, making sure we have dedicated services linking to Fiona Stanley Hospital and other key activity centres. All that is being planned, and very soon there will be a significant communication of those programs.

I tell members what else is happening on 1 January. We are reducing the cost of travelling into the city by hundreds of dollars—thousands of dollars for many people. Are the people who are saying that that closure is going to have an impact now saying that they want to contribute to the fact that we are reducing the cost of travelling into the city? That commitment is not for three or four weeks; it is forevermore. From 1 January, the highest price that a person will be paying to get into the city will be a two-zone fare. How does that change the economics? It changes it a lot. As I have outlined in many responses to that curious claim that somehow we have to subsidise the Perth city council for this, at the same time, on 1 January, we will be bringing down the price of catching public transport into the city by thousands of dollars for people. That will affect everybody. On top of that, we are building new train lines to make it easier to get into the city. We are building the Ellenbrook rail line and the extension to Yanchep, we are extending the rail line to Byford and we have the Thornlie–Cockburn Link—all these new train services. Again, I do not hear the same person or the same council saying, ''Let's contribute to that'', because we are bringing more people into the city at a cheaper price. We are transforming the system. All those people who want to complain, like the opposition does on everything—whether it be the management of COVID or keeping WA safe—will see that this is a complete transformation of our rail network. As I said, there will be disruption, but when you build roads, when you build rail, there will be disruption. We are working very constructively with the key employment centres, with everyone, to make sure that we have a plan for alternative bus services.